recent IPOs - DoorDash in December 2020
and Deliveroo this March - have highlighted
the excitement that’s present in the sector,
but also raised doubts about the ongoing
growth of food delivery. Other great projects
like Zoox autonomous vehicle or a robotics
startup called ‘Robomart’ wants to go even
further, replacing Postmates or Instacart,
right in from of your front door. As consumers
return to the workplace and spend less time
at home, some of these startups will no doubt
fold, though behavioralists argue consumers
have permanently changed their thinking -
particularly around food. Rather than driving
ten miles and waiting in line for takeout, they
can catch up on work or relax in front of Netflix,
having food delivered.
Perhaps one of the most interesting things to
come out of the pandemic is not that individual
players began offering delivery services, but
that there’s now a whole ecosystem of delivery
partners that transport goods, services, and
cheesecakes to consumers’ doors. Indeed,
rather than hiring an army of delivery drivers
themselves, companies like McDonalds work
with partners like UberEats and DoorDash.
Not only does it take the pressure out of the
company and ensures they’re not paying for
staff when they don’t need them, but it’s helped
to create a new micro-industry, with millions of
self-employed workers around the world using
apps like Uber Eats to make a living. They can
work on their own time, refuse jobs they don’t
want to do, and earn a comparable wage to
working for a company. But there has been a
great deal of concern about the gig economy
and how workers are being treated by this